“Strange” does not necessarily equal bad as regards the character and worth of the human soul. In fact, arguably some of the strangest people ever to live have been among the very greatest. This is a bit of an odd topic to take up for a blog though, isn’t it? Maybe.

But maybe there are epic reasons for strangeness in humanity. Perhaps there is beauty amongst the curious ones. It’s been on my mind a lot for a long time now. The normal “About” menu you may be looking for isn’t there here. Instead, you will find Why “Strange?” and it should give you a pretty good sense of what I am trying to do in this space.

Have you or someone you love ever, for physical exercise, walked, jogged, run, or cycled down residential streets? If so, have you or your loved one ever been chased or even bitten by a dog of any variety or size? If yes, how frightened or angry were you/they? Was there retaliation (either immediate or delayed), or a burning desire to lash out; to get even?

If you said, “Yes” to more than a couple of these questions, I think that you or your loved one might very well find today’s post a particularly relevant, and perhaps entertaining read. So let’s have a peek into the regular workout world of an interesting character—an especially multi-faceted little man—and see how he handled his trial by fang.

NOTE: A CAUTION TO THE READER – The management wishes to make clear that although styled to look like a newswire press report, the reader is urged to observe the following: Look carefully at the three, not two letters of the wire service identifier at the top of the story, and at the ownership notice at the bottom of this piece). This post is not #FakeNews, but rather a fictionalman on the news tale. So remember, #MoeNtale, NOT #FakeNews. You may now proceed to the biggest, baddest nasty little dog story ever told. Continue reading “THIS MEANS WAR! The Nordic Walking Pole Has Landed”

This “Part II” of the original post on our Work Envy problem gives us much more to think about. Answers are proposed, a riddle is unraveled, and the results could be both transferrable and transformative.

Why is it, do you suppose, that so many of humanity’s most brightly shining creative stars of many a bygone year have flamed out on a quest for the ultimate journey toward perfect composition, performance, or display? And why, so often, have they taken the route of The Long Strange Trip because of a hoped-for substance-induced transcendence on the trek? My treatment of the topic in this particular post will likely do more to validate these questions rather than necessarily answer them. If this sounds depressing, read on anyway, because in one man’s trip to find his own answers for his own art, he discovered that comedic moments can—and sometimes often—happen in could’ve-been-tragic stories.

Envy is nothing to joke about—after all, it’s one of the Seven Deadly Sins, right? In this post, I do admit to taking a somewhat light-hearted look (but with a serious twist) at what happens when a guy looked at another guy’s work, and wished he got to do that cool stuff instead of his own boring stuff. The results, reflection, and conclusions in the “Part II” post of this two-part miniseries may lead you to re-think your own approach when you feel Work Envy encroaching in your world.

“Ninety-seven percent of doctors surveyed agree that we all experience the disorder known as ‘Work Envy,’ (WE) in some form, an average of 1.87 days per week.”

The following very short piece—originally posted on the blog for my original instrumental music production project I did back in 2012—will serve as the inaugural post for this, my new creative venture. My “Adding to the Beauty” was written (as inspired by the lyrics to Sara Groves’ title track from her 2005 album Add to the Beauty) captures the spirit of what I hope to do here.

In all of art, I dare say that its creators share a common thread: the desire to articulate meaning and to serve a higher purpose than just a singular piece of art can ever do when seen or listened to in isolation from life’s larger context. Good art does that. It sheds light on meaning, on beauty. Continue reading “Adding to the Beauty”